A NSW parliamentary committee has tabled its final report into the impact of Renewable Energy Zones on rural and regional communities, concluding the rollout has come at a significant cost to regional interests.
Portfolio Committee No. 4, which covers Regional NSW, spent two years visiting all five REZ regions across the state, including Central-West Orana, New England, Hunter-Central Coast, Illawarra and the South West. The final report contains 25 findings and 16 recommendations, and found that while each zone had its own particular challenges, a number of common issues were raised by stakeholders across all of them.
Committee Chair Mark Banasiak said rural and regional communities were at the heart of the inquiry.
“They are the ones facing significant change to their communities, environment and, for some, their livelihood,” he said.
“The energy transition should happen with communities and not to them. However, the reality has fallen short of this.”
Among the committee’s key findings was that the State Government had presided over the REZ rollout without a coherent, enforceable, whole-of-government planning framework, resulting in what the report describes as predictable and avoidable harm to rural and regional communities. The committee also found that EnergyCo, as the REZ infrastructure planner, had failed to perform its central coordinating role, and that community consultation by both EnergyCo and renewable energy developers had failed to give affected communities meaningful influence over outcomes.
Mr Banasiak said the inquiry may have concluded, but the impacts of the energy transition on rural and regional communities were ongoing.
“Individuals, farmers, families and host communities will continue to be impacted,” he said.
“The government must be accountable for this significant transition that is being experienced by many rural and regional communities throughout New South Wales.”
